It is HARD trying to change habits. Do not believe anyone who tells you any different. I am committing to posting my journey here for accountability, and to show you the REAL deal. No, I am not going to pay off $50,000 of debt in four or even fourteen months (no shade to those that do), nor will I be eating rice and peanut butter for the duration (again, do that if that’s your thing, but I am not about that life). I do need to do better. I have spurts of living my best life like I don’t owe anyone anything, but one of the early steps in your financial journey is to figure out where your money is going.
Here is where my money has gone the first 2 weeks (technically the first “week” is the last three days of June, but I get paid semi-monthly) of July:
Now there are a few unusual things about these two weeks:
- I had family in town for a few days, so my “Eating Out” expenses were slightly larger than I intended
- The “Hobby” category – hence why I am in the midst of a #noplannersupplybuyJuly”; the Ultimate Planner Sale happened at the end of the July, and I was told to get what I wanted…I got a lot of what I wanted. I am content to think of it as an early birthday present 🙂
- Clothing is not a normal category I keep track of because I buy so infrequently, but I will track when I do
- There is no gas in the second week because I spent the majority of it in the bed sick
- Auto maintenance came out of a loose sinking fund account where I put some of the money I make driving, so I didn’t have to dip into my regular account. Whoo hoo!
So overall, it’s not the worst. Not quite the best either, but it happens. There will be good days and bad days. The only thing you have to do is keep going.
Baby steps. No judgment here. How is your spending going?